Isn't this really one of the skills a sysadmin should know already? Why is this book necessary? If you don't know this, you shouldn't be an admin! It's that simple.
Albert Einstein had one of the most comprehensive libraries on mathematics, physics, logic, and philosophy in the world.
When asked why he had so many books, he said: "Why waste all my precious time learning all these facts, when all I really need to know is where to find them in which book?"
Most rational adults will agree that Dr. Einstein pretty much knew what he was talking about, and he got that way by using his time efficiently at every opportunity. That's how he changed the understanding of the known universe in his lifetime.
The best System Administrators have the best libraries, or the best reference resources available at all times.
The --worst-- admins only rely on their own memory.
This book is an essential piece of a comprehensive reference library.
It's interesting how a holy-war on OS's developed from a review on a non-OS-specific book on Backup and Disaster Recovery.
Here are a couple of plain, clear thoughts on System Administration, hopefully to satisfy all sides of this discussion.
GUI's require specialized understanding to provide even adequate administration. All of that GUI overhead on the desktop can come crashing down without knowledgeable specialists being there to tweak and prod the hidden layers, and to know how and where to push gui buttons to get the best performance.
Command-line OS's are not based on memorization of command strings, they're based on complex thought methodology to produce complete application-like solutions in the form of a sentance.
Linux Documentation is included on the installation CD of every packaged delivery from all the LINUX providers, in HTML and info formats, so the argument that the docs are too expensive is rather inflamatory and seriously exagerated.
What you get with any book is a shortcut to concentrated information in a specific area of expertise, and saves you the cost in terms of time to reinvent all of that knowledge.
Books are an investment in your self, your profession, your interests, etc. Buying the right books is a good investment, buying the wrong books is a bad one.
Buying the right books can be the difference between being a casual system user and being a highly-regarded expert professional.
To quote a very serious book advocate, "Over the next five years you will be exactly who you are today, except for who you know and what you read."
By spending 15-30 minutes a day reading any material on a single subject, you can learn enough in 5 years to be within the top.5% of all experts in that field. Try it. It works.
---- jimbohey = a professional Systems Administrator in NT, UNIX, Linux, and MacOS.
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- Isn't this really one of the skills a sysadmin should know already? Why is this book necessary? If you don't know this, you shouldn't be an admin! It's that simple.
Albert Einstein had one of the most comprehensive libraries on mathematics, physics, logic, and philosophy in the world.When asked why he had so many books, he said: "Why waste all my precious time learning all these facts, when all I really need to know is where to find them in which book?"
Most rational adults will agree that Dr. Einstein pretty much knew what he was talking about, and he got that way by using his time efficiently at every opportunity. That's how he changed the understanding of the known universe in his lifetime.
The best System Administrators have the best libraries, or the best reference resources available at all times.
The --worst-- admins only rely on their own memory.
This book is an essential piece of a comprehensive reference library.
That's "why".
Here are a couple of plain, clear thoughts on System Administration, hopefully to satisfy all sides of this discussion.
Books are an investment in your self, your profession, your interests, etc. Buying the right books is a good investment, buying the wrong books is a bad one.
Buying the right books can be the difference between being a casual system user and being a highly-regarded expert professional.
To quote a very serious book advocate, "Over the next five years you will be exactly who you are today, except for who you know and what you read."
By spending 15-30 minutes a day reading any material on a single subject, you can learn enough in 5 years to be within the top .5% of all experts in that field. Try it. It works.
---- jimbohey =
a professional Systems Administrator in NT, UNIX, Linux, and MacOS.